Michael J. Pecarovich (September 23, 1898 – March 23, 1965) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He served as the head football coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles—now known as

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

—in 1928 and 1939,

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

from 1931 to 1938, and the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

from 1960 to 1961. Pecarovich also coached two professional teams, the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League and the San Francisco Clippers of the California-based

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

Early life

Pecarovich was the son of Croatian

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

(his father Nikola was from Vis) born in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

, Pecarovich attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

from 1919 to 1921 as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

and an end. Pecarovich then transferred to

in Spokane, where he played football as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

under head coach Gus Dorais. He graduated in 1922, and was an assistant under Dorais. In 1924, Pecarovich earned a law degree and passed the

Coaching career

After law school, Pecarovich coached the Gonzaga High School football team for two years, then led the Los Angeles Angels football team in the Pacific Coast Professional League, until 1928. That year, Pecarovich took over as head football coach at Loyola, where he installed the Knute Rockne system. The Lions amassed a 5–3 record in 1928. In 1929 and 1930, he coached Cathedral High School in Los Angeles. Pecarovich returned to his alma mater Gonzaga in 1931 to succeed Ray Flaherty as head While there, Pecarovich appointed

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

, a friend and former classmate, as an assistant coach, and made appearances in several movies alongside Crosby."Pecarovich – 'Quite A Guy'"
'' Tri City Herald'' (March 24, 1965) He remained at Gonzaga through 1938 and compiled a record in eight seasons."Michael J. "Mike" Pecarovich Records by Year"
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved June 6, 2011. In 1939, Pecarovich returned to coach Loyola, which gave him a three-year contract; the Gonzaga administration agreed to release him from the two years remaining on his His second stint with Loyola was not successful, his team earning a record, and he was replaced by Marty Brill. He applied for the head coaching position at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, but was not hired despite being considered a Pecarovich coached the San Francisco Clippers in 1944 in the short-lived

of the Pacific Coast. He led the franchise to a second-place finish with a record in the eight-team league's only season. He later served as an assistant coach under Flaherty with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

professional football team, then taught at St. Anthony High School in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

for ten years in the 1950s. On April 27, 1960, the

announced it had signed Pecarovich to a two-year contract as its head football coach. He led the Toreros to a record over two seasons. However, after the 1961 season, the school disbanded its football program.

Later life

Pecarovich earned a reputation as a skilled after-dinner speaker, and provided many lectures in his later life. He also used his oration skills during halftime pep talks, and people who knew both men compared him to

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

, who had been a famed motivator as the Notre Dame coach. Pecarovich died of a heart attack on March 22, 1965, in his home in Rolling Hills, California, and was buried at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach. He was the namesake for Pecarovich Field at Gonzaga, a $25,000

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

venue which opened in 1967; it was renamed August/ART Stadium in 1996 and razed in 2003 to construct the McCarthey Center. The Gonzaga Athletic Hall of Fame inducted Pecarovich in its class of 1991.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pecarovich, Mike 1898 births 1965 deaths American football quarterbacks Gonzaga Bulldogs football coaches Gonzaga Bulldogs football players Loyola Lions football coaches Santa Clara Broncos football players San Diego Toreros football coaches High school football coaches in California High school football coaches in Washington (state) Male actors from Washington (state) Washington (state) lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Players of American football from Spokane, Washington Pacific Coast Professional Football League coaches American Football League (1944) coaches